Andy Murray: The British Ace

 When he started his career as a professional player, it was the era of Roger Federer. Later on, when Federer was out of form for a while, it was Rafael Nadal who dominated the court. And it was all Novak Djokovic in 2011. But still, he never gave up and he is at the position where he is proving to be a huge threat to the empire of this trio. Andy Murray, the British ace, has achieved a position in professional tennis that every British citizen has been waiting for last 76 years.

In 2005, Andy Murray started his career at an ATP world ranking of 407 to become the youngest British player to play Davis Cup. But at the start of his career, he had suffered from a lot of injuries and constant splits with multiple coaches. After making his debut almost three years ago, he was not considered among the best till the 2008 US Open, where he beat World No. 2 Nadal in semi-final to become first Briton since 1997 to reach a Grand Slam Final. Eventually, he suffered a straight sets loss against Federer.

Murray could not continue his winning ways in the 2009 Australian Open, but later he won the Queen’s Club championship and became the first British player to win a title on a grass court since 1938. After Wimbledon and Montreal, he overtook Nadal to play as World No. 2 before the US Open 2009; Murray’s highest ranking till date. 2010 saw a dream start for him as he reached the Australian Open final by beating Nadal, but again lost to Federer. After this, Murray failed to maintain his performance throughout the year and found himself pushed down to World No. 5 at the end of the season. The Australian Open 2011 final was the third occasion for Murray where he lost to Djokovic and again failed to win a Grand Slam.

But in 2012, Ivan Lendl became Murray’s coach. With Lendl’s new tactics and his improved backhand, Murray passed through Tsonga to become first British male to reach Wimbledon final first time since 1938. There he suffered a four-set loss against Federer; but with his calmness, control over the serve and his Lendl-touched backhand, Murray won the audience over.

But it was the time to write history later. A month after the Wimbledon final, it was the same encounter between current World No. 1 Roger Federer and Andy Murray at the 2012 Olympics. Murray silenced all the critics who doubted his ability to win any major tournament by defeating Federer in three straight set to win the Olympic Gold for Great Britain first time since 1908. On his way to finals, Murray lost just one set. He was not stopping at singles’ gold; he also won mixed doubles’ silver with Laura Robson.

After the Olympic Gold, it was time to win a Grand Slam; the prize he had been waiting for 6 years and 4 major finals. In his second consecutive final there, Murray created a history by defeating Novak Djokovic in an epic five-set encounter in US Open 2012 and became the first British player to win a Grand Slam since 1936. Along with winning a major title for Britain after 76 years, Murray also became the first player to win Olympics Singles’ Gold and US Open title in the same year.

After US Open final, in the Shanghai Masters, Murray beat Federer to continue his record against Federer in two straight sets. Murray now leads Federer 10-8 in head-to-head matches. But Murray eventually failed to win the final against Djokovic, where Murray was unable to convert 5-match points into the victory.

With his performance of 22-3 in the majors this year and Ivan Lendl’s trained backhand, Murray made his way to this year’s ATP Tour Finals. He is currently World No. 3 in the ATP Rankings, behind Federer and Djokovic. It took a lot of time for Murray to become one of the winners in current era of tennis, but Murray’s belief to achieve something brought him to the position he is in today.